Community Health Assessments

The opportunities for better health begin where people live, learn, work, and play. National and state health data is important, but it can only tell us so much. By talking to people about their health and learning from them about their neighborhoods, we can build understanding of what affects health in their communities. Working together and sharing data, we can build healthier neighborhoods and improve community health. We can also evaluate the impact of our efforts.

What We Do

• Work with community-based agencies to do community assessments (environmental scans) and door-to-door interviews in the neighborhoods they serve.
• Report health data from environmental and neighborhood surveys.
• Provide training for funded agencies on how to analyze and use local data for program planning and neighborhood improvement.
• Organize community forums to share the results of assessments with community residents, leaders, agencies, and policy-makers.
• Address the leading preventable causes of death and disability by expanding the use of evidence-based strategies and programs, mobilizing local resources at the community-level, and strengthening the capacity of local neighborhoods.

What You Can Do

• If you live in one of the communities we've surveyed, use the information to work with your neighbors and make changes.
• If you are a community-based agency, use the data to design programs and services and seek funding.
• If you are a policy maker or advocate, use the data to drive policies.